Our soil is suffering. 33% of our soils are degraded - losing up to 10 million more hectares of healthy soil every year. An area almost the size of the North Island. With the loss of healthy soil, our food security, biodiversity and climate change mitigation, among other things, are drastically at risk.
Soil, just like our skin, is a living, breathing ecosystem. It is the living skin of our Earth. At Weleda we believe both, soil and skin are worth protecting and caring for.
Since 1921 we have been growing the plants used to make our iconic products using soil-friendly methods. We keep soil healthy and make it as biodiverse as possible by working with biodynamic farming principles and collaborating with regenerative farming projects around the world. Healthy soil is key to thriving ecosystems. Without it we cannot tackle the crisis nature faces today.
In 2021, more than 22,000 children, across 213 schools spent more than 30,000 hours in the garden and kitchen creating more than 800,000 vegetable-based meals. This year schools will get educational resources on soil health.
Together with the association La Sauge, we have been able to reconnect city dwellers with nature: Urban farms bring together local residents to garden together and drive the agro-ecological transformation of tomorrow - including the 4500 m² "Terre-Terre" farm.
Through our own pop-up store in one of Seoul's most popular neighbourhoods and participation in the Mindful Gardening Festival, we have promoted public awareness of soil, its functions, and its protection.
Hear from Dr. Sc. Agr. Astrid Sprenger, Head of Weleda’s biggest medicinal plant garden in Germany.
Here in New Zealand we have teamed up with Garden to Table . This amazing charitable organisation is educating our tamariki in schools about connection to the land, health and wellbeing through hands-on experience in the garden, growing their own food and learning to cook great food. In 2021 more than 22,000 children, across 213 schools took part in their program. They spent more than 30,000 hours in the garden and kitchen creating more than 800,000 vegetable based meals.
An area of education that Garden to Table is keen to expand on, is teaching children the importance of starting with healthy soil to grow the highest quality vegetables. We are partnering with them to create educational resources which will be used to teach children the importance of good soil health, how to build nutrient dense soils in their gardens and the positive impact looking after our soil can have on climate mitigation. These resources will be rolled out to schools from Term 1 in 2023.
“To care about something, you have to have a relationship with it”. And this partnership is all about building the relationship between the next generation and soil.
